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August 20, 2008
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| Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced a plan to establish two international middle schools in the capital city, each of which will accept 160 freshmen beginning next March. But the plan also drew intense criticism from local parents and teachers who feared the change would force elementary school students into excruciating competition to get in for an elite education. The Seoul education office said yesterday it would convert the current Daewon Middle School and Younghoon Middle School into international middle schools, where all subjects, except Korean literature and history, will be taught in English. The capital city’s education office will map out a detailed application process in October after consulting with the Education Ministry. According to yesterday’s announcement, each school will accept 160 first-year students who will be divided into five classes. The annual tuition will be set at 4.8 million won ($4,574) or less, a measure partly aimed at quelling criticism that the new schools will be affordable only for children from rich families. But first-year students also have to pay an additional 700,000 won as an entrance fee. Competition to get into the elite schools is expected to be fierce as well as somewhat odd. The schools will screen 800 applicants based on school GPAs and extracurricular activities, before selecting 480 after interviews. The final selection will be done through random lotteries. “The system is aimed at easing demand for private cram school instruction and to curtail excessive competition,” said the Seoul education office’s education support director Yang Jong-man. It remains to be seen whether the measure will have its intended impact. Only about 1.4 percent of some 110,000 elementary school graduates each year will be able to pass the initial screening process for admission, let alone the interview. The Korean Teachers and Education Workers’ Union held a press conference in front of the education office yesterday to protest the decision. “The change would put enormous burden on elementary school students and increase the financial burden on parents, eventually devastating the elementary education system,” said the union in a statement. Under the current system, most elementary school students are assigned to a middle school in their district. Back in 1960s, students were required to take an entrance test to get into middle schools, which were strictly ranked by how many of their graduates get accepted into elite high schools. By Min Dong-ki JoongAng Ilbo/ Jung Ha-won Staff Reporter [hawon@joongang.co.kr] |
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